MAP21: Nirvana (Doom II)

MAP21: Nirvana is the twenty-first map of Doom II, named after the, a concept in , meaning a transcendent state of freedom from passions and desire that ends the reincarnation cycle of birth and death. It was designed by Sandy Petersen and uses the music track "Countdown To Death". The par time is 4:00.

Essentials
Pick up the health bonuses and medikits in the starting area and kill the imps in front of you. Take the teleporter on the right. On the other side, continue along the path either way, killing spectres and shotgun guys along the way. Once you approach the teleporter at the end, the wall will open, releasing two pairs of revenants. Flip the switch to lower the wall, then step through the second teleporter.

In the next area, flip all four switches on the triangular platform. This raises a staircase in front of you. The nearest step actually acts as a lift, so lower it and step on. Once it has risen again, you can jump onto the triangular platform to retrieve the rocket launcher. Afterwards, climb the stairs and continue down towards a horde of imps and mancubi as well as two teleporters. Take the one on the right.

In the next area, press the use key on any of the four walls to lower them, unleashing an ambush of imps around you. Crossing into their territory causes the next four walls two lower, revealing a further two pain elementals. After all the enemies are dead, pick up the yellow skull key and go through the teleporter. To get the megasphere in the room you just came from, flip the switch closest to the teleporter and go through again. Run into the megasphere's corner before it rises again. Once you have obtained the megasphere, flip the other switch to open a shortcut back to the starting area. This time take the teleporter on the left.

Open the yellow walls in the next area. From here, follow the ledge around to the end, then drop down onto the imps' platform and flip the switch. This lowers the chaingunners' platform across the way, where you can pick up the red skull key. Grab the nearby radiation shielding suit and head back out into the main slime pit with the brown platforms. The blue skull key rests on the northwestern-most platform. Lower the platform just southeast of this as you would a lift, ride it up and drop onto the blue key platform. Once you've obtained all three keys, head back to the southeast corner of the pit and lower the platform there. Ride it back up to the ledge, make your way through the red and blue barriers, then exit.

Secrets
There are no official secrets in this level.

Bugs
If you flip some of the S1 switches on the triangular platform too fast, the staircase may not raise high enough, preventing you from reaching the yellow key. This can softlock the level (unless you perform a glide through the yellow bars).

Bugs in older versions
One of the sectors in the raising stairs area used to have a sector that wasn't closed.

Speedrunning
As this level does not contain official secrets, the NM 100S category is redundant.

Routes and tricks
There is enough room between the yellow bars and the wall in the final area to glide through the gap, negating the need for a yellow key.

The player also does not need the blue key to finish this level, as there is more than enough space to fit through the gap between the blue bars without using any special techniques.

One can also perform three separate glides to get through the red bars. For the last diagonal glide one one probably needs to fire the rocket launcher into the bars to gain enough momentum.

Current Compet-n records
The Compet-n records for the map are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on July 5, 2020.

Current DSDA records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on February 23, 2023.

Player spawns
This level contains six spawn points:
 * 1) facing north. (thing 0)
 * 2) facing north-west. (thing 1)
 * 3) facing north. (thing 2)
 * 4) facing north. (thing 3)
 * 5) facing north. (thing 8)
 * 6) facing north. (thing 129)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

Trivia

 * The level's name has been frequently rumored to be a reference to the band, whose lead singer died of a gunshot wound by a shotgun, due to the level having a super shotgun in its opening scene. Designer Sandy Petersen debunked this claim in 2021, stating that it is a mere coincidence.
 * The level's name has been frequently rumored to be a reference to the band, whose lead singer died of a gunshot wound by a shotgun, due to the level having a super shotgun in its opening scene. Designer Sandy Petersen debunked this claim in 2021, stating that it is a mere coincidence.